Internal combustion apparatus



Jan. 9, 1934.

C. L. BOISSET INTERNAL -COMBUSTIO N APPARATUS Filed Feb. 28, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 .INVENTOR Charles l:- ,gBoi-s'set,

ATTORNEY Jan. 9, 1934. c, 1,, BOISSET 1,943,053

INTERNAL COMBUSTION APPARATUS Filed Feb. 28, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESS. I (Zurles 11.222326,

BY ff mro ATTORNEY Jan; 9, 1934. c. BOISSET 1,943,053

INTERNAL COMBUSTION APPARATUS Filed Feb. 28. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 rrrrr I i INVENTOR WITNESS :8\ CharlesL-B zlss ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 9, 1934 i,943',osz

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,943.05: INTERNAL COMBUSTION APPARATUS Charles L. 'Boluet, New Orleans, La.

Application February 28, 1931. Serial No. 519,195

11 Claims. (01. 126-118) This invention relates to improvements in interval combustion appratus, and it consists of the constructions, combinations and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of the invention is to provide an internal combustion apparatus particularly adapted to the purpose of heating dwellings and other buildings, as well as the purpose of providing a heated fluid applicable to other and possibly not allied purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide an internal combustion apparatus which includes a part generally denoted the heat source which embodies provisions for commingling the products oi combustion of a burner with volumes of air for the purpose of producing a heated fluid to be circulated in a heating system or diverted to any other desired purpose.

A further object of the invention is to provide a heating system for dwellings and the like, in which system the heat source and the instrumentalities connected with it comprise one of the outstanding features.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is, a diagrammatic sectional view illustrating what is herein known as the vacuum system, the details of the heat source being clearly shown.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the heat source, illustrating slight modifications in internal structure, and showing a variation in the use of the heated fluid, namely for the purpose of heating an oven.

Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating a further modification of both the heat source and heating system, the adaptation being to what is commonly' known a hot air heating system for dwellmgs.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view of a part of the fluid conduit in Figure 2, illustrating one type of thermostat capable of use in conjunction with the damper control.

One of the underlying purposes of the invention is to utilize a combustible fluid to the best advantage, so that there will be a minimum of loss of heat units by radiation, improper burning of the fuel etc., all to the end of producing a heated fluid capable of being conducted through conduits for heating dwellings either directly or indirecty, or for serving other purposes, for example heating an oven. In its general aspects the apparatus 1, herein known as the heat source, is fundamentally the same in each of the several forms of the invention disclosed, but in each form some necessary modiany desired shape, this being surmounted by a 55 cover 4 which comprises the foundation plate for a pair of concentric cylinders 5, 6, the cylinder 5 being the encalosure for a certain burner chamber later described.

It is not essential to the invention that the members 5, 6 be cylindrical. In practice they may'have other cross sectional shapes and will serve the purposes of the invention equally as well. The outer cylinder 6 is open at the top as at 7 so as to provide an ample entrance for atmospheric air. Air is continuously drawn in at the entrance by the working of the system as presently appears, it being remembered that the system is of the so-called vacuum type.

The inner cylinder 5 has a top closure 8 which so has connection with a conduit 9 which leads to all parts of the heating system 2. While considering the heating system it may be pointed out that a radiator 10 is connected at one end with the conduit 9 as at 11, and at the other end with as a return pipe 12 which communicates with the inlet 13 of a centrii'ugal fan 14 or other blast forming means. This fan is revolved within a housing 15 by any suitable means, for example,

an electric motor of suitable horsepower which is not disclosed.

Returning to the concentric cylinders 5, 6, it

is noted in Figure 1 that these are stood at their lower edges in concentric annular depressions 16,

1'? in the cover 4. The points of contact of the cylinders with the cover are intended to be made firm so that the cylinders will not move out of place when once erected. The annular space 18 between the cylinders 5, 6 has communication with the interior of the casing 3 through a series of holes 19 in that part of the cover 4 appearing between the bottom edges of the cylinders.

The specific and probably obvious purpose of the holes 19 is to admit the atmospheric air originally received at the entrance 7, to a burner 20. The air supports the combustion of the fuel which in this instance is furnace oil. The oil is delivered to a nozzle 21 by a fuel pump 22 of any preferred design, this pump being operated in common with the fan 14 by a belt 23 or such other driving connection as may be decided upon.

The belt is applied to pulleys respectively on the fan and pump shafts.

The speeds of rotation'of' both the fan 14 and pump 22 will depend to a large extent on the particular types employed as well as the specific requirements of a given installation. However, one example of the speed ratios is 1750 R. P. M. for the fan 14 and approximately 1000 R. P. M. for the pump 22. In this particular installation the fan '14 is driven directly from the motor (not shown). The pulleys on the fan and pump shafts are of such ratios that the pump works about twothirds the speed of the fan.

A bracket 24 appropriately supports the nonle 21 in the center of a rather large aperture 25 in the top 26 of a bonnet 27. This bonnet is appropriately secured in an opening 28 of the required size in the cover 4.

There should be an air seal around the bonnet 27, that is to say in the joint between the bonnet and the opening 28. This conflnes all of the air admitted at the holes 19 to the central aperture 25 and to a radial series of angled outlets 29. The intervening parts of the bonnet 27 occurring in the zone of the outlets 29 produce biased vanes.

which have the result of giving the air a swirling motion, tending to conflne it in a somewhat compact volume within a burner chamber 30 into the bottom of which the burner 20 is directed, said chamber therefore being the receiver means for the products of combustion.

This burner chamber, somewhat like its adjoining members, is a cylinder which is fixedly stood on the cover 4. However, the instant relationship of the chamber 30 to the cylinders 5, 6 is eccentric becaufi of the introduction of a pipe 31 which afiords communication between the interior of the fan housing 15 with the interior oi the cylinder 5. This eccentric relationship is not necessarily adhered to in practice, and as a matter of preference would be replaced by a concentric relationship of all three cylinders. The advantage of such a relationship would be an equal distribution of fluid in the cylinder 5 around the chamber 30. As observed in Figure 1, the top of the chamber 30 is open and communicates directly with the interior of the cylinder 5. The products of combustion are thus discharged directly into the volume of air driven into the cylinder 5 by the fan 14, the mixture producing what is herein known as the heated fluid. The fan current past the open end of the chamber 30 aids in drawing out the products of combustion. A flue 32 joins the pipe 31. at the general place of connection of the latter with the outlet of the fan housing 15. Some of the exhausted gases withdrawn from the system 2 by the fan 14 are discharged into the flue 32 and in turn to atmosphere, the remainder being driven into the pipe 31 for mixture with volumes of heated fluid and subsequent circulation in the system.

This partial elimination of exhausted gases and mixture of the remainder with volumes of fresh air is a direct result of the adjustments of a damper 33 pivoted across the pipe 31. It can readily be understood that if the damper 33 were closed entirely, the suction set up at the inlet 13 of the fan housing would be of such a degree as to compel a maximum induction of atmospheric air at the holes 19, bearing in mind that the suction in the return pipe: 12 must be traced' through the radiator 10, conduit 9, cylinder 5, chamber 30 and burner 20.

Under the same circumstance, the action of the fan 14 would be to drive all of the so-called exhaust gases into the flue 82 and so out to atmosphere, remembering-that the damper 33 is closed. In this respect the flue 32 provides a bypass.

This would obviously constitute a very invemclent operation, flrst from the standpoint of driving to atmosphere through the flue 32 large volumes of heated gases, and second from the standpoint of supplying the burner 20 with so much air as to blow theflame out. With these understandings it becomes necessary to adjust the damper 33 in order to arrive at an eflicient balance of operation. Such an adjustment of the damper 33 is approximately half way between its fully open and closed positions. Re

membering that the suction of the fan 14 is felt in the inner cylinder 5 it is easy to understand that considerable volumes of exhaust gases are drawn in at the pipe 31 'to commingle in the cylinder 5 with a relatively small volume of atmospheric air received-at the holes 19. Some of the exhaust gas will naturally escape at the flue 32, but this will be so inconsiderable as to not noticeably affect the economical operation of the apparatus.

By virtue of thefact that the chamber 30 con: tains a large flame it is apparent that the walls of the chamber will become very hot. The gases passing around the chamber 30 will be heated by the contact, soon to actually commingle with the gases evolved in the chamber 30 and discharged at the open top, all to the end of producing a heated fluid.

The inner cylinder 5 will also become heated, and inasmuch as the air passing down the annular space 18 comes in contact with the cylinder 5 said air will become preheated thus conserving the heat. The space 18 constitutes an air jacket which insulates the cylinder 5. As is common in practice, the fuel is ignited by a spark plug 34 which is supplied with high tension current from a suitable source 35. The spark plug is secured in the top 26 and assumes the position at the side of the nozzle 21, well out of the zone of the flame. In practice the actual flame appears about a" from the tip of the nozzle, the intervening atmosphere being gaseous.

Attention isnext directed to Figure 2 in which a number of parts are substantially like corresponding parts in Figure 1, and are therefore designated by corresponding numerals without 125 a repetition of the description. The chief differences reside in the nature of the system 2 and in the mode of control of the fluid within the casing 3.

The conduit 9, instead of leading to the radiators of a dwelling, leads to an oven 36 which is intended to' be heated by the fluid. A pipe 37 conveys the exhaust fluid to atmosphere.'

Instead of the burner 20 being directly supplied with air from the holes 19 the bonnet 27 is entirely closed 011 underneath from the casing 3 by means of a branch or bypass 38 extending oil to one side of the pipe 31. This pipe simply connects the interior of the inner cylinder 5 with the outlet of the fan housing 15. There is no equivalent of the flue 32, unless it is the pipe 37, and the housing inlet 13 communicates directly with the interior of the casing 3, rather than with an exhaust return pipe as before.

Situated in the pipe 31 in such a manner as to control the pipe as well as the branch 38 is a pair of dampers 39, 40. The damper 39 acts in the capacity of a throttle while the damper 40 acts as a deflector. The pivots of these dampers have levers 41, 42 extending off to a'place of con- 1x0 nection with a rod 43 which extends out from the arm 44 of a thermostat 45 (Fig. 4);

This thermostat may comprise any known stack type, but for illustration is shown as consisting of a bi-metallic strip wound in a spiral (Fig. 4) anchored at one end as at 46 and connected at theother to a revoluble shaft 47, one end of which carries the arm 44 already referred to. A weight 48, adjustable on an extension of the arm, balances the rod 43 depending from the opposite end of the arm and therefore enables the operation of the thermostat 45 (Fig. 4) with the utmost freedom.

Assume the heat of the fluid discharged into the conduit 9 as being excessive. The resulting expansion of the bi-metallic strip 45, (Fig. 4) causes a rotation of the shaft 47 counter-clockwise, with a consequent lowering of the rod 43, a turning of the throttle 39 toward its erect position and a turning of the deflector 40 toward a closing position in respect. to the branch 38.

The effect in operation is an increased supply of air through the pipe 31 to the interior of the cylinder 5 but the maintenance of a substantiallyconstant volume of gas to the burner 20. The pump 22 operates uniformly to supply the nozzle 21 with a substantially constant volume of oil, and since there is no ordinary variation in the oil supply it is obviously necessary to keep the air supply by way of the branch 38 substantially constant in order to maintain a given intensity of the flame.

The result of the increased volume of air admitted by way of the pipe 31 will proportionately cool the gas supplied to the conduit 9. The resulting contraction of the bi-metallic strip 45 will rotate the shaft 47 clockwise, raise the rod 43 and reinstate the dampers 39, 40 in more or less the former position. Should the temperature of the fluid in the conduit 9 drop to lower degrees, there would be a still further closing of the throttle 39 to shut off more of the outside air from the cylinder 5 and so give predominance to the heated gases discharged from the chamber 30.

But conformable with the further closing of the throttle 39 the deflector 40 moves out farther toward the left so as to compensate by its extension for the reduced volume of air permitted to escape past the throttle 39. The result of the action of the deflector 40 is to keep substantially constant the volume of air directed to the burner 20. Under any circumstance the air discharged by the pipe 31 into the cylinder 5 is deflected toward the chamber 30 by a baflie 5* situated approximately as shown in Figure 2.

Reference is next made to Figure 3. This is a system intended for use in dwellings having what is known as a hot air heating system. Such parts as correspond with the apparatus 1 already described are identified by corresponding numerals, but the modified parts comprise the following:-A pipe 49 leads to a register (not shown) to supply a room with heated air, while a pipe 50 conducts cooled air from the room to a container 51 with the outlet 52 of which the pipe 49 connects and in which all of the heating apparatus is situated.

A motor driven fan 53 sets up a circulation as best denoted by arrows a. The fan 14 sets up a current in the pipe 31 as before, causing a discharge of the,heated fluid into the conduit 9 largely on the principle of the system in Figure 2. The pipe 9, now actually comprises a mani- .er in the pipe 31 fold, between which and another manifold 54 a series of tubes 55 extends. The heated fluid is circulated as denoted by the arrows b.

Atmospheric air is admitted to a chamber which is the equivalent of the casing 3 through an air inlet tube or opening 56. This air is supplied to the burner 20. A flue is arranged concentrically of the tube 56, and since this agrees in purpose to the flue 32 in Figure 1 it is similarly identified 32. The tube 56 is of appreciable length and not so much larger in diameter than the flue 32 which it encloses. The resulting constricted air passage confines the incoming air to close quarters and is hereby preheated before admission to the container 51. The degree of preheating is governed by a damp- The heat content of the flue 32 increases as the damper is tilted toward the flue, and in practice best positions of the damper are established whereat proper volumes are directed into the cylinder 5 and into the flue 32. Of necessity only fresh air can be circulated in the pipes 49, 50 and the room of the dwelling with which these connect. The heated fluid is confined to the circulatory system comprising the pipes 31, 9, tubes 55 and manifold 54.

Staggered bailies 57 extend toward the tubes 55 from opposite sides so as to lead the fresh air (arrows a) over a tortuous course and so insure a thorough exchange of heat. The uppermost one of these baflies extends out from a wall 58 which is a continuation of the left-side of the casing 3. This wall also constitutes a bailie, inasmuch as it aids in compelling the fresh air stream to pass down beside the cylinder 5 before reaching the outlet 52.

In operation, the system in Figure 3 will be largely on the order of that in Figure 1. The fan 14 propels the gas and maintains a flow through a conduit system which, instead of including the radiator 2 now includes the tubing 55 which is a substantial equivalent.

However, instead of having the tubing'55 situated off in a room by itself, it is confined to the container 51 (Fig. 3) in common with the rest of the apparatus, to be contacted by an independent current of air which is independently circulated through the remote room by the fan 53. Thus it will be seen that, as previously stated, although each modification involves peculiarities of construction yet an underlying principle prevails to the end of mixing the high temperature products of combustion with volumes of air to produce a heated fluid, said fluid being later employed to warm other volumes of fluid eontacting the conduit system by which the heated fluid is conducted.

While the construction and arrangement of the improved internal combustion apparatus is that of a generally preferred form, obviously modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A heating system comprising a conduit, a cylinder with which one end ofthe conduit is connected, a fan housing having an inlet for atmospheric air and an outlet pipe connected with the cylinder, a fan revoluble in the housing for discharging air through the pipe into the eylin- I alanhominghvmgzanipe clmnected 3 te npa suctionin theinner cylinder, v

:a Iuelmounted 'onaaid ulab :a

raid :and no open ended chamber litueted in the inner on piate around the burner bonnet.

3. ended cylinder, an :inner tromouter cylinder, :a top closure for thein- :ner cozmectihle'with .a conduit, a. main, zajoundation the casing, a 11101- the cylinders and :a hole providing o! the casing with the cylinders, an open ended chamber mounted on 'p'late 'the .in-

:ajnn housing in the casinz'having :an inlet tin: with the inside oi. and an outlet pipe communicating with of cylinder, :a branch at one directed-into the chamber, end amen-mt -.in.eaid nipesand d. In :a heating 'system having a burner chamiher at one end, a 'hm-nerflxedzai: oppoend or toiml chamber with fits =0! combuution, :a cylinder spaced around the burner :cham'her having said open end in communication and :a conduit with which the endzot the adis connected; :a'hlower .ito end 01' at'the ill-rt of eccentric space, :up 'cm'rent zaaid larse III-I1; .d Zhnmer 'fihlm mdjllit fits end todray out :a burner Meihaving in com- :a for the d cylinder, :alhurnm :flmed Lin bottom to iii: product and. into a blower having in outlet at- :indernpaoe'inn.

' tenceiwemidcm'entandithe-com- .A matem ;c ;a container, a

fin: a cylinder, a conduit icommunicetinz therewith, a .commun'icatim the conduit, a manifold communicating the :and a pipe connecting the 'manijtold with and cylinder, a

' 1-; m'cductsotc cylinder, :eaid container having an :openin: atmospheric air to :a P811101 Iflfi mupnly the burner .nnd produce :a heated :mr'id, :a :ian in to circulate the heated .fluid, a bypass connecting the discharge ls'ide oi the :ianwith the atmosphere :said

opening, and :means in'lthe pipe 'toeovernthe discharge tromtheianito variablydeflectnaid-dis- .chnrge f-into the 8. A heating comprising a a SWIM-hm arranzement in the container a :aenaratinz :seid arrangement :trom aapaoe the container, ;a p'luraltuhe radiator ct 'aaid arrangement defines :a sa'ir course zaround atone oxide of the con- "tainer and a :Ian 11m air through :aaid over the said space, an outlet gp'ipe lending 21mm a burner apparatus located :in mpace :a conduit con- :one not the for supplyihotgas, :a manifold the other end of tfor hot 88., :a. blower in the manifold itor dr'ivin; as "into the burner apparatus, .andirneane to deflecteome o1 theiho't gas hlowernwayitrom-the bumer appain.

l. A :wstem comprising .a container, a =atanered-hame arrangement in the container .in-

.a'wa'li :aaid emangement :from 125 1a a plm'ell-tube :radi- :ata'i a otmaidhailienrrangement'which ;a air course around the u: :means at one side .0! the container and :e. Ianlor 'a'ir course over the m :into laid mace, gpipe from .a burner located .in .epace :a u-lw" 1 ihotgae, ameni- Idd of Im- :into xto deflect :aome co! as from the last blower 1m dd'lmhmiazdmected, m1'ornblitflm1 M I, f

and demim a airm.

II. In .a heating 1a Ehumer npparatus 145 ia' leduemgihotrmaagipem'teihehurner lhlrmr apparatus "with at; 1m

said tube being of appreciable length and deflning a constricted air passage around the flue, and a damper in the pipe to govern the flow of the hot gas as regards said apparatus and flue, the degree of preheating of the air in said tube depending on the tilting of the damper toward said flue.

11. A heating system comprising a container.

and means to circulate fresh air therethrough, a circulatory system within the container comprising a cylinder. a conduit communicating therewith, a tube communicating with the conduit, a

manifold communicating with the tube and a pipe leading off from the manifold. a fuel burner 

